A/N: Well. . . . CHAPTER ONE IS FINALLY HERE! Sorry it took a few days, but I just didn't know how I should have did the first chapter. I am the type of girl who is impatient and so, yeah. I have to constantly lecture myself not to rush things too much. :P! Nothing left to say now. ENJOY! And just remember that the DISCLAIMER only ever shows when I introduce something new that either doesn't belong to me or DOES belong to me. :P! ENJOY! . . . . AGAIN!

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ALICE IN WONDERLAND! IT RIGHTFULLY BELONGS TO TIM BURTON WHILE AS THE NOVELS THAT INSPIRED IT RIGHTFULLY BELONG TO LEWIS CARROLL! I ONLY OWN MY OC(S), LEWIS CARROLL (Rightfully named after the author, even if that is not his real name), WILLIAM ASCOT, AND LACIE CARROLL! THIS IS MADE FOR PURE ENTERTAINMENT!

Chapter One

Balls And Talking Rabbits

A young female, thirteen years later, sat just outside of the mansion with her head faced down. This was her way of sulking because of having to wear a dress. The female hated dresses nearly as much as she hated attending balls, which was what she was to attend right when she opened the doors to the mansion in front of her.

The dress she wore was rather odd, considering this was a ball everyone was attending. It was a dark purple, strapless dress made out of pure silk. On the top part of her dress, trailing down was some golden designs and in random places at the bottom of her dress, which did not cling to her body as the top part did, were golden spots that pinched pieces of the dress together. On her feet were a pair of black high heels.

"I do not wish to attend this party. Why would someone hold one at midnight, anyways? I would think this be the time that one would prefer to be asleep rather than dancing the night away," she muttered to herself, staring at the door and ignoring the strange glances she was receiving from the guards. "Must I attend?"

Finally, she let out a small sigh and clutched hold of the golden door handles, taking in a deep breath. She pulled open the doors to reveal a small staircase that she had to walk up. Deciding she had already come this far, she headed up the stairs and heard the doors close from behind her. Honestly, though! Wouldn't they have the doors open for guests to arrive? Or was she truly that late?

Ignoring her questions arriving at some mad speed in her head, she finished walking up the steps and soon arrived at the top of where she was supposed to be introduced with her mother and father. Seeing them already dancing, she figured that they knew that only a truly mad person would wait for her. She was never on time, usually late by a few hours. Her mother wasn't any better until she met her father, but that was an entirely different story.

Upon arriving down at the end of the staircase, not wishing to be announced or be seen, she took a place in a seat nearby. A small sigh escaped her lips, hating to stand out just because of her silk purple dress. But, her mother loved to be different, as did her father. She was very much surprised that the two of them didn't just show up in their pajamas made into a dress and a suit! That thought made Lacie giggle and begin to rock her boots back and forth.

"Why! If it isn't Lacie Carroll!" somebody suddenly shouted, which made her cringe. She hated it when people did that. Publicity of any sort was something that she hated. Not that she was shy or anything, but she just thought that everyone knowing about everything she did was a tad bit embarrassing and not worth it.

She looked to her side to reveal a very fancy looking man. He somewhat scared her with his fanciness. Hair combed back, eyes plain as a button, and a superb suit. Ugh. Anyone could tell who this was just by glancing at them. She was his forced childhood friend since her mother was supposed to marry his father but instead she rejected him after, she claims even though Lacie knew it wasn't true, she had a trip through Underland. Oh, yes, and don't forget that her mother worked for his grandfather, and now his father since he took over the business. Double ugh. William Ascot.

"Hello, William. How do you do today?" Lacie forced her best smile towards him, failing miserably. That was a reason she would never join stage as an occupation. Her acting skills were not even skills.

"I wish to have a dance with you, Miss Carroll," he said pleasantly, totally ignoring her question. That annoyed her to no end, but she tried not to say anything. The last thing she needed was for him to get upset and all just because she refused to dance with him. According to the rumors going around (and him telling her so often a few months ago until she finally told him to shut his trout), he was mad for her. It was a tad bit creepy.

"Um. . . ." she stared out into the distance of all of the people dancing. Then, she had a vision that all of the women wore suits and all of the men wore dresses. That thought gave her a good giggle. Seeing as how William was still waiting for her answer, though, she looked back up to him and nodded once. "A dance. . . sounds fine." As long as you don't propose to me, then I think I'll survive.

Soon enough, she found herself in the middle of the dance floor with William, twirling around in circles in a somewhat waltz way. She wouldn't know. It wasn't as though she focused on what every dance was called, anyways. Who would? Oh, besides those Victorian people who think that publicity is everything. That pretty much only left her and her family to choose from.

"So, have you been fair lately?" William suddenly asked, startling Lacie a tad bit. It wasn't a bit shocked that he had started a conversation, since he usually did after it being more than two minutes of silence, but she didn't like to talk to him when he had ''the look'' in his eyes. Thank God it wasn't there now.

"Um. . . . I suppose so. How about you, William?" she forced another smile up at him, hoping that it would pass for a real smile. Apparently, luck was on her side that night.

"Yes, I suppose I have been fair lately, if not any better," he smiled genuinely down back at her. That was probably the only difference between their two smiles, since they looked the exact same on each others face.

The two continued to dance, having lovely conversations about the past they shared together. You see, even though Lacie did not see him as a lover or the man she would like to spend the rest of her life together with, she did care about him. It was more like platonic feelings if anything at all. The smiles she faked were only fake whenever she felt uncomfortable around him, which was only whenever she did anything with him that could give him the impression that she, too, felt strong in ''that way'' towards him.

After about five to six songs, the two parted as he went to speak with his parents and she went to speak with her own parents. She found them by the drinks. "Hello mother, father," she greeted them as she came from behind.

"Hello, dear," her father greeted her with a flashy smile. Her mother just turned around, cup in hand, and smiled genuinely at her lovely daughter that looked a tad bit too much like herself when she was her age. Thank God they did not have the same eyes, or she would've been a clone!

"May I leave soon, please? I am not particularly fond of balls, as you already know," Lacie asked them, a hence of begging and pleading in her voice. Of course, it would only be her parents who would catch the small hint in her tone and just exchanged a glance, rolling their eyes. "Mum! Dad!" Lacie whined.

"Lacie," her mother began, setting her cup down and looking her daughter right into her emerald green eyes, "If I have to go through the torture of staying at this ball, then you do as well," she finished sternly with a hint of teasing in her voice.

"Mum!" Lacie threw her hands up in the air as she whined. Some pairs of eyes turned to the small family of three at this sudden whining outburst. Lacie crossed her arms, stuck out her bottom lip, and began to pout as if she were some young child again.

"Oh, Lacie!" her father laughed before pulling her into a tight hug. He released her after a moment or two and grinned cheekily at both his daughter and wife—the lights of his entire world. They were all he needed to survive longer.

"I think I should just go out to the balcony to get some air," Lacie sighed. Earning nods from her parents, she nodded as well before turning on her heel and walking out of the ballroom and out into the balcony.

It was nice to finally be alone, since no hopeless romantics were outside on the balcony as well and trying to have romance or whatever. Lacie did not consider herself much of a hopeless romantic, although at times she did like to imagine her life with someone else. That being past the point, it shall be dropped. She made her way through the beautiful garden, examining each and every flower as she passed by them. Somehow, the garden had connected to the balcony with a pair of stairs. It wouldn't have been too bad to live there, although she knew that she would never even spend a week within these walls of an elegant mansion.

"Alice!" a voice whispered rather loudly, followed by the rustling of shrubs right next to Lacie. Startled, she jumped back and stared in shock at the bushes next to her. What the heck was that?! "Alice!" the voice called out again. It sounded like a rushed, worried male. What the?!

"I think I might be going mad. . . ." she muttered to herself before placing the back of her hand on her forehead. "Have I truly gone mad? I dearly hope not. It will only give more reason for everyone to hate me," she sighed before turning around on her heel. "No. You have not gone mad. You are just tired, upset, and you really need to get away from the rustling, talking bush before you be like your mother's stories and follow a white rabbit down a rabbit hole," she told herself sternly.

The bushes rustled some more, causing her to flinch at the very sound of it. Wouldn't you? If you had thought you had finally gone mad, hearing bushes whisper out your mother's name and then it rustles even though there is no wind, would you have not been worried? If not, you were truly some mad woman, or man, and needed some serious help. Talk to someone about those little allusions you're having!

Then, right before her eyes, a white rabbit jumped in front of her. It wore a waistcoat, had a pocket watch in hand, and was staring right at her. "Alice! You mustn't be late! Come with me, now!" the white rabbit had spoken hurriedly, coming closer towards her.

Lacie's emerald orbs widened in fear as she emitted out one of the loudest screams she had ever let out before in her entire life. Turning around on her heel, she rushed away from the white rabbit, trying to ignore it's calls out to her. "Wake up, Lacie! Wake up!" she yelled at herself as she ran through the garden, finding herself in it's maze. "Rabbits don't talk! Rabbits don't talk! Rabbits don't talk! Rabbits don't talk! Ohmylord! How is that rabbit talking?!" Then, she tripped and fell flat on her face.

She took in a deep breath as she got up to her knees, a tad bit calmed down from the impact of her face hitting the ground. Sadly, it did not take the images and memory of a white rabbit speaking to her, calling her 'Alice', and reaching out for her. Had she truly gone mad? Had it been the ball's fault? She dearly hoped so, that way her madness wouldn't have been her own fault. The thought of putting the blame on a simple event caused her to giggle lightly before she got up to her knees, dusting off her silk, slightly dirtied dress. Her hair that had been up in a bun was now a mess so she just took it out completely, letting her hair curl down to her waist.

Where am I? Surely I am far away from the ball now. Dear lord! She sighed as she thought about being far away from where she was supposed to be, yet being slightly content with being far away from the white rabbit now. She examined her surroundings and found that she was right in front of a tree that had a rabbit hole in front of it. Ohmylord! What if it's the white rabbit's rabbit hole?! Oh no! Wait. . . . Perhaps I should take a look inside just to be sure it doesn't belong to any other creature. . . . Call it stupid, if you want. But, curiosity got the better of the panicked Lacie.

She fell down to her knees again, looking into the rabbit hole. Her best option for staying up was putting either hand on the sides of the rabbit hole and peering inside of the deep abyss of a hole. "Hello?" she called out, receiving no reply. Although, she had been positive that she had soon seen something move in the hole so she looked deeper. "Hello?" she called out again.

Then, she felt a force against her back that had made her fall into the hole. There was only one thing to do right then: scream her mind away and keep her eyes tightly shut, waiting for the impact to surely kill her. Lacie was doomed, and she knew it.

Gaaaah. . . . I screwed up a bit at the end, rushing it. I am just a tad bit lazy. XD! Sorry? o__o Well. . . . REVIEW! PWEASE! TRUST ME! I SHALL LOVE YOU UNTIL THE END OF TIME IF YOU DO SO! :D?